Artitudes Design Inc Named Finalist in Coveted 2011 American Business Awards SM

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Seattle-area graphic design firm CEO Andrea Heuston is a finalist for Executive of the Year; Company is a finalist for Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year.

(PRWEB)May 18, 2011

Artitudes Design Inc, a Seattle-area, full-service graphic design firm was named a finalist in the in the 2011 American Business Awards in two categories: Artitudes CEO and Creative Principal, Andrea Heuston is a finalist in the Executive of the Year (Services, Up to 100 Employees) category and the company is a finalist in the Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year (Up to 100 Employees) category. More than 2,800 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted this year for consideration in more than 40 categories. The American Business Awards are the nation’s premier business awards program.All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. Companies as diverse as Apple, Groupon, General Electric, Procter & Gamble, and The Walt Disney Company are among those recognized.

Finalists were chosen by business professionals nationwide during preliminary judging in April and May.Winners will be selected from among the Finalists in each category by members of 10 specialized final judging committees. More than 150 executives will have participated in judging this year.

Executive of the Year Finalist Andrea Heuston
Artitudes began as a one-person office and under Heuston’s leadership has grown over the past seventeen years into a powerhouse full-service graphic design firm that employs seventeen people and where Heuston is firmly committed to her employees and her community. Heuston believes in putting the needs of her people before the needs of the business. Consequently Artitudes has a very generous benefits package, a great work environment and has won many accolades for its workspace and collaborative culture.

Heuston herself continuously strives to develop her leadership skills and find ever increasing ways to give back to the community.She is a member of PLE (the Peer Leadership Exchange) and EO (Entrepreneurs’ Organization). She is also a member of the class of 2011 of Leadership Tomorrow, a Seattle organization that prepares, challenges and engages emerging and existing leaders through leadership development for the benefit of the Puget Sound region.She sits on the board of Olive Crest, a non-profit dedicated to preventing child abuse, and NW Next Leaders Council and is a member of Seattle 4 Rotary.

Corporate Social Responsibility at Artitudes
As a company Artitudes acknowledges and embraces its role as a responsible community leader and gives back to the community in a myriad of ways including serving lunch monthly at the Matt Talbot Center, a Seattle residential treatment program serving the homeless, addicted and mentally ill and donating $50,000 worth of services each year to Olive Crest. Five years ago Heuston and staffers began Artitudes In Action: Art Docent Campaign, providing art instruction to several local elementary school classrooms and it is for this program that they are a finalist in the ABAs.

Art instruction has been severely affected in by budget cuts in public schools and is usually one of the first subjects to be cut from the curriculum. Heuston saw the growing need and stepped up to create a program that would be mutually beneficial to schools and Artitudes. Artitudes partners with schools and works with them to select classes with the greatest need for art instruction. Employees then volunteer their time as art docents which gives them the opportunity to give back to the community with something they are passionate about – art. Since the start of the program Artitudes has reached between 20-25 classrooms totaling more than 550 students.

About the Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about The Stevie Awards at http://www.stevieawards.com.